From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
01-02-2024, 01:06 PM (This post was last modified: 01-08-2024, 08:18 PM by Odd.)
marked me like a bloodstain
Welcome to being a queen, Flora. Have your entire region go to shit, Flora. Watch your tavern get destroyed, Flora. Watch both your dads nearly die, Flora. Okay, so she hadn't watched them die and the entire region hadn't gone to shit, but you must admit as far as coronations go, this one sucked.
Whatever. Flora had said she'd be good for Torchline and by all the gods she intended to do just that.
"Listen up. It goes without saying that if we don't get our ports up and running we're going to be fucked. Halo is dealing with its own shit right now, but if we don't have some way for the other regions to come and give the help they all keep offering, things ain't gonna go well. So!" Clapping her hands together and looking incredibly bright and chipper despite the devastation, she glanced through all those who had assembled and nodded approvingly.
"We've totally got this, though. We're Torchline, and if anyone can get through this and come out on top, it's us."
The destruction around Ray's clinic was one thing, but the Port was another. Despite the rising anxiety and need to get to the Grounds, Edmund couldn't bring himself to go just yet. It was a relief that he hadn't gotten too far into the Oerwoud before deciding to turn back. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to help with more pressing matters.
After a solid nap to reenergize (who had time to actually sleep through the night now), Edmund was back to it. Throwing back a quick snack, he arrived at what was left of the port just as Flora started her speech. He gave a solid nod once she was done, "Where do we start?"
~
Edmund arrives with everything on his profile! (And the guilt that this might be his last thread as a Torcher).
Caido's newest Queen was already proving her sincerity in the midst of incredible tragedy, and Hadama was proud of how she had risen to the challenge and relieved that he could rely on her as they both needed to be in at least ten places at once in the aftermath of Starfall.
Feelings he would need to remember to put into words when they had a few minutes to sit down together in the midst of all the chaos. For now, he settled for rising out of the water to offer her a wet, webbed hand and squeezing her fingers gently to convey his appreciation before they got down to business.
"We are Torchline," he agreed, his voice a rumbling echo of support beneath Flora's bright fire. "And we will recover."
He nodded weary welcome to Edmund, gratitude evident in the inclination of his head and the spark of warmth in his eyes, oblivious to the Ancient's intentions to leave them in the midst of disaster. Then he turned his attention fully on Flora, waiting for her instructions.
Hadama arrives with everything on his profile!
From amidst the throng of NPCs who were keen to put their services to use, was a man who seemed to stand taller than any of them despite his relatively average height. Indeed, he only seemed to tower among them because there was no cowing of his shoulders in weariness, nor lines of defeat on his face.
"I'd like to be of help...if you could use it." He called out, stepping forward with a warm smile for Flora, before turning to the merking and offering him a respectful half-bow. Dressed simply but flawlessly, the man straightened as he cast a glance around at the casual devastation Torchline had suffered at the hands of the meteor.
"I've heard about the troubles here..and..what an absolute disaster." Tutting under his breath, Dorian purses his lips in a frown and gives his head a single shake in an aw shucks paternal gesture of concern.
Dorian arrives with who knows what up his sleeves.
Offering Edmund a wink before turning to look at Hadama, Flora felt her cheeks flush as her heartbeat first quickened and then slowed in response to the merking's fingers around hers. Nodding to him in earnest and wishing she had the attuned ability to silently express her appreciation, she settled for squeezing his hand before turning her attention back.
Thinking little of Dorian's arrival—they'd literally asked anyone and everyone for help—the Doubletake clears her throat.
"Okay, step one is making sure nothing around here is dangerous. That means clearing all the debris away and making sure we don't have any sharp bits of glass or nails or anything like that. We need to be quick but not at the cost of adding to the work our healers already have, right?
And don't just chuck stuff away whily-nilly. Some of it we can reuse, so let's make a garbage pile and a reuse pile, yeah?"
No posting order!
2 people to join the NPCs in moving stuff
1 to help coordinate what counts as junk and what doesn't
1 to make sure that no nails or any other dangerous things are poking out of the wood or debris in either pile.
Hadama also paid Dorian little mind, aside from nodding to the stranger in gratitude for his help. "Indeed. Thank you for coming," he offered. People were slowly trickling in from Stormbreak and more distant regions to help, and in truth they needed every one to pull the region back together.
He listened intently to the first stage of what was needed and gave a nod of understanding. "I will coordinate," he offered.
Swimming a short distance away, he used his Mastered Water Manipulation to create symbols made from ice at different points along the place where the docks used to be:
A 'fire' sculpted from ice for burnable trash.
A wastebasket for trash that could not be burned to be gathered near.
A trio of blocks stacked in a pyramid to indicate stone, brick, or masonry that could be reused.
A realistic 'board' with wood grain for lumber they could reuse.
A large anvil, for metal objects to be collected at.
A simple X for debris that didn't fall neatly into any of the other categories.
He swam up and down, occasionally aquaporting between the piles, to direct those bringing debris for sorting with a simple nod or a pointed finger to send them to the correct location for their burdens.
Hadama helps coordinate and sorts the piles into different types of reusables.
Flashing the leaders a warm smile, Dorian listened politely to the instructions given before thoughtfully looking at the debris all around. "Unfortunately I'm not sure I'll be the most help when it comes to physical labour." He said apologetically. Of course, for his apparent age Dorian looked good, but it was hardly a stretch to think that the older man might suffer some sort of cardiac event if he went about moving wood in the hot sun.
'I'll look out for dangerous bits, shall I?" He offered, dusting off his hands as if this was something he was old hat it. Waiting for the pile of reusable wood to begin in earnest, Dorian strode about with his hands behind his back and his body bent forward, carefully inspecting planks of wood for nails, as well as shards of glass and the like.
'Oh! Careful now!' Reaching out with steadying hands to stop one of the workers from treading forward, Dorian kicked aside a bit of sand to reveal a partially broken window. Had they continued on, they'd have lacerated their leg up to the knee in all likelihood.
Flora and Hadama each get a tired smile from Edmund. It's truly a relief to see them both in one piece and working together. The Ancient gave Dorian a brief look of concern before getting to work, "You be careful as well." The man had already spotted broken glass, but the Ancient didn't want the man to cut himself in his search.
Edmund decided to focus on the bulkier items. It would be easier to tell their value from a quick glance and his tiger form would be more than able to move them. Taking a moment, the Ancient shifted forms. As soon as he settles into his fur, Edmund gives himself a good shake. Ready, he walks over and begins to haul the first chunk of debris with teeth and claws. One of the NPCs spots him and ties a rope around the broken chunk of the building. With a grateful chuff, Edmund keeps pulling, this time with more ease.
~
Edmund joins the NPCs in moving stuff! He focuses on the bulkier items and pulls them away in his molten tiger shift.
Assuming that Hadama had things well in hand (in her experience he almost always did), it was with a general shrug in Dorian 's direction that the queen turned toward Edmund, once again working with the molten tiger to shift shit around the beach.
"It's like deja vu." She murmured, raising her eyebrows toward the volcanic feline before glancing at the remaining citizens. Forcing a smile despite how tired she felt, Flora threw herself into the throng of things. Normally she'd have just voluntold anyone she came across what to do lest she break a nail, but today her muscles ached to be put to use.
For his pains, Hadama would be forced to answer the same question over and over, namely, "Heya, 'Dama? Where's this go?"
Flora and Edmund will find that simply moving things is much easier, only...there's quite a few nails and such still in the wood. "Hey uh...sorry, what's your name?" Flora yelled to Dorian, hardly pausing for an answer. "Do you want to maybe get some helpers? There's still lots of glass and wood."
Hadama's efforts are slowed by stupidity.
Flora and Edmund have avoided being injured thus far.
Dorian should get some helpers to cover more ground.
Hmm. He had hoped that the icy pictograms would help the sorting along and make it more efficient. But why would people read signs when instead they could ask someone swimming conveniently nearby? Given that the Mer were just as prone to it as the humans were, he could only breathe deeply and answer with calm patience each time the question was asked, taking a moment to identify what the person held and directing them towards the corresponding pile with a nod of his head or a pointed finger.
He had known that this would be a long day. And if Torchers who had just been through a horrible tragedy wanted a reassuring authority figure to ask simple questions of, well, he could provide that while Flora wrangled debris with Edmund.
At least as the piles grew in size, it might be easier to see what should go where just by looking?
Hadama patiently continues to direct NPCs to sort their recyclables and garbage into separate piles.
'Ah! What a fabulous idea!' Dorian agreed, offering Flora a warm smile before promptly spinning on his heel and tromping into a group of NPCs. The others will see him waving his arms about and gesticulating wildly, before leaning down and pulling up a long rusty nail from the sand. Eyebrows raised, Dorian holds it out for all to see before going into a lengthy sermon about the dangers of tetanus and other infections caused primarily from wounds that most would normally overlook.
Actually, this lesson went on for quite some time, before, having done absolutely nothing at all, Dorian wandered toward the water's edge and tried to hale the merking. "Sir?" He called, waving a hand. "I wonder...do you think we might trade roles? I'm not sure I have...well, you see, the citizens just don't seem to be listening to me, and I'd hate for anyone to get hurt simply because I lacked the skills to properly motivate this group."
Dorian suggests to Hadama that they switch jobs because the NPCs aren't listening to him.
Edmund let out a spark-filled chuff at Flora's observation. They seem to have the smoothest start of the others but he's not so naive to think it'll stay that way. Digging his claws into the sand and dirt he, starts trying to drag part of a crumbled wall away. Others (NPCs) join in thankfully, but he can feel molten metal dripping off of him in place of sweat. One helper gets too close to smacking their face into it and gets nudged back with a striped tail.
Their effort and drive are commendable but Edmund doesn't want to be bled on today. Not like this at least. It'll just make him hungry.
Hours go by and as they do, tempers flare, emotions rise, and morale begins to fall. There are cries of hopelessness, of what's the point? and even a few suggestions of getting in boats to go to the new island and raise some hell. These outbursts are mostly shortlived, and yet as Flora calls out to soothe these sentiments away, she can't say she doesn't entirely understand them. "Listen, quicker we do this, quicker we can get drinks, right?"
Whatever Dorian and Hadama decide to do with their respect tasks is entirely up to them. As it stands, nails, glass, and splintered wood still litter the sands, and despite Hadama's careful oversight, as the hours go by the citizens become less and less concerned with putting things in the correct piles and more concerned with food.
Maybe that's a better job befitting a king? Or at least, this King in particular?
Given the molten metal pooling around the tiger, few workers want to get close to Edmund, more or less leaving the ancient on his own. Of course this means that those in charge of ensuring the area is free of harmful debris aren't around to do their part, such that the tiger will find his paw suddenly neatly impaled by a twisted nail.
Hadama, will you swap with Dorian? Or perhaps work to arrange some food so we all don't get hangry?
Edmund, for better or worse because of all the dripping metal coming off of you, no one wants to work with/near you and you've stepped on a nail.
Hadama's attempts to keep the piles tidy by directing people to the right ones were... less than ideal. Given the destruction and the general state of Torchline's inhabitants he couldn't find it in his heart to blame them, but the constant corrections did start to wear down even the Tidebreaker after awhile. So it was that Dorian 's request was met with a few moments of thoughtful consideration and then an agreeable nod. "Yes. And perhaps food will help motivate them," he added, overhearing Flora 's attempts to inspire her own helpers.
Food was a great motivator in general, the sometimes-chef had learned.
He swam away from the collected piles of debris to find a passing Mer, accepting their load of broken planks pulled from the water in exchange for sending them off on a different errand. They slipped under the waves and dashed for the Bubblestream while Hadama took the planks to a sandy section of shore. Then he used his water manipulation to pull the wetness out of them, and asked one of the human gatherers for a light to start the bonfire going.
"Food will arrive soon," he called to the workers. "There will be extra servings for those who clear the largest areas of dangerous debris." In truth there would be extra servings for anyone who asked for one, but they wouldn't know that until after the food was served.
And soon enough, Mer started arriving from the Underwater City, bringing fresh fish, crustaceans, kelp for salads, and other supplies. Hadama commandeered some of his staff from the lost Tidepool Bar from the cleanup efforts to instead begin grilling up the fish and shrimp in an impromptu grill they scavenged while the King himself focused on making a savory seafood soup in a large cauldron that hadn't been quite dragged out to sea.
Hadama attempts to bribe the cleanup crew with offers of more food if they work harder.
He uses Royal Command to get supplies from the Underwater City and start a fish fry and chowder cook-up on the beach!
